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The Comic, Comedy Spaces, Comedy Agents

In stand-up comedy as opposed to traditional theater, differences occur not only in performance style and telling jokes, but in also what are different performance situations. Theater audiences in voyeur mode, sit in relative silence, while comedy club audiences can be a bit more engaging with the performers onstage. But a common notion that stand-up comics are spontaneous in their performances as opposed to actors who must closely follow a script might not quite be the case. Although many professional comics alter their acts on a regular basis, and often make jokes off the tops of their heads, a good portion of what makes up their show is tightly scripted.

The Catch-22 of getting paying comedy jobs is that in order to work you need to be good, but in order to be good you need to work. And since a club owner is always looking to fill seats every time the club opens its doors for a performance to justify the cost of an event, if not to make money overall, it certainly helps if the comic has a following which can be a matter of passing around a mailing list at club dates, using the media to generate press coverage, and/or networking and winning awards.

There are places you can perform in while you are developing your act, self-starting strategies to create work, and places to perform where you will get paid.

Places to Perform when Starting Out

When starting out, comics perform wherever they can. Places you can perform in while you are developing your act include amateur nights, where a great majority of stand-up comics begin their careers sometimes performing for weeks, months or even years.

In the beginning of your career you will most likely not be performing under conditions you have control over. In comedy clubs, the choice spots are usually reserved for the pros, and the up and coming are relegated to the graveyard shift. Often, you will be performing at 1:00 a.m. Under these circumstances, you have to make adjustments. Other performance venues can include:

Performing in parks and on sidewalks

fund raisers and benefit shows

comedy festivals

television appearances

comedy night at local hotel

roasts

creating your own events

Video as a Tool to Land Work

Get a video of yourself performing in front of an audience. The tape should be no longer than 20 minutes. Put your best jokes first , and stay away from filler, such as "Where are you from". Don’t edit the tape. The club owner wants to see exactly how you work with an audience without any special video effects.

The Right Pictures

You also need an 8 x 10 glossy black-and-white picture of yourself. A simple head shot on a white background will do. A club owner wants a face shot, because the newspapers are more likely to print that for publicity than an out-of-the-ordinary kind of picture.

The Paying Gigs

Comedy Clubs

Afterpiece. In eighteenth-century London theatres, a short comedy performed after a five-act tragedy, providing comic relief for the audience.

Billing. The size of an actor’s role such as starring or guest starring. Also, where the actor’s name will be placed in the credits and if the name will be shown on the screen alone or with others.

Booker. An agency employee who sets appointments for talent/models.

Double-take. An exaggerated facial response to another actor’s words or actions, usually used for comic effect.

Laugh Track. The laughter of a live audience of a situation comedy or other television show that actors are performing in front of, that is recorded to be played back when the show is aired..

Mimicry. An actor’s ability to sound and/or look like someone else, usually a famous person.

Self-Contained Artist. An artist who writes and performs his or her own material. Also refers to artists who require no production or personnel assistance from promoters.

For a full glossary listing click here

The best place to start a comedy career is at your local comedy club. In nearly every city there is a comedy club. Usually these clubs book three acts a week. In most clubs, the opener gets 10-20 minutes; the middle gets 20-30 minutes; and the closer gets 35-60 minutes. Most clubs have at least one night a week for newcomers, and very often the opening act is booked from these slots. After gathering at least 20 minutes of solid material on video, try to make a connection with the booker by phone or by letter before mailing your tape. It is not necessary to have been on television to get booked into a comedy club. But don’t expect a lot to happen, and tapes are not usually returned. Club owners on the average get a hundred calls a day and 60 tapes a week. Avoid performing at the top comedy clubs until you have really developed your act. Producers and directors are always in the audience in the major clubs in Los Angeles and/or New York, and first impressions are lasting. If you are from a small town, stay there until you are ready. Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Philadelphia are good comedy workshop towns where you hone your skills.

Colleges

A comic who has 60 minutes of jokes that are clean material, and has an act that appeals to college students can earn decent dollars in the college market, even with no television exposure. College bookings are organized by the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA). Each year NACA sponsors 11 regional conventions and one national convention that is held in February. At these conventions, comics showcase 20 minutes of their act before a group of 400 to 2,000 students who are directly responsible for booking you. At the showcase, all performers’ prices are set and made available to the buyers before the convention. In the Exhibit Hall each agency maintains a booth with publicity, prices, and availability of the acts they represent.

The best way to participate in the college market is to submit a 20 minute video of your act to the NACA selection committee through a college agent. This videotape needs to show how good you are, what you can do, and how well you appeal to the college audience, and it needs to do all of this in three minutes, because that is they can be expected to view of each tape.

A comic can choose to be self-represented at a NACA conventions , but would have to contend with the expense involved in maintaining a presence there. Not only do you have the expense of airfare and hotel, but you have the added expense of developing quality promotional materials and maintaining a booth in the Exhibit Hall. According to NACA, acts that have representation have a much better success rate than that of self-represented acts. College agents usually charge 20 percent.

Most college agents will ask you to submit current press materials (8 x 10 glossies, resume, bio, clippings) and a video. The college market is good to approach when you have an hour of clean material that appeals to college students (material on cafeteria food, fraternities, teachers, dorms, etc.). If you do manage to get a gig before you are ready and you don’t deliver, it could mean a bad first impression. Also, know that there is a tremendous amount of travel involved.

Industrials

Corporate enterprises will hire comics to entertain at their meetings or conventions, but they are known to be careful when making a selection. Most companies do not want to risk hiring anyone too controversial. A comic in this field needs to have 40-60 minutes of material that has good jokes with a broad appeal.

Cruise Ships

Certain agents book comics exclusively on cruise ships, although many ships prefer to book the comic directly. In order to be considered to work cruise ships, you need to have three different 20 minute sets of clean, non-controversial material. You need to have three different sets because on a ship the audience stays the same. Generally, a comic will only work a few nights a week on a ship. To apply, you send the cruise ship company a videotape with two totally different 25-minute sets.

Hotels, Casinos, Concerts

Most of the big rooms in hotels and casinos are reserved for comedy’s brighest stars. But it does happen that a newcomer opens for a headliner and ends up playing some of the bigger rooms.

Television

At some point in their career, most comics will get at least one opportunity to be looked at by a TV show’s bookers. Naturally, to heighten your chances of landing the gig, you should have acquired a good amount of experience in the field before presenting your material at an audition. Doing your act on television can be a very different experience from the clubs. In most TV studios, the studio audience is far away from you, and sometimes there is no audience at all. In this case a comic needs to know how to relate to a TV camera - possibly leading to training for television acting.

Star Search

TV’s Star Search is a talent showcase that will book a comic without an agent or union card. If you would like to be considered for Star Search, send in a tape that is over 5 minutes long, but less than 30. They will look at all tapes. Sometimes Star Search will book comics from audio tapes , sight unseen, as well as from auditions across the country, even in small town comedy clubs. They usually will take a club owner’s suggestions.

Getting Cast in TV and Film by Doing Stand-up

Casting directors and network casting executives all go to stand-up clubs to discover talent. But just because comics do well in stand-up doesn’t mean that they will know what to do when they walk into a casting director’s office and are handed a script to read. Rule of thumb guidelines that can aid a stand-up comic at a reading include the following:

Don’t do your act in an office, but invite the director to come down and see your show the next time you are performing. Stand-up belongs onstage, in front of an audience, not in front of a desk;

Take acting classes to enhance or amplify whatever it is about you that piques the interest of casting directors;

Send postcards/ecards to casting directors to notify them where and when you are playing. Casting directors want to find new talent. They always want to be the one who discovers a new talent and so they are very responsive. If the casting director cannot go, possibly someone from the office will be sent.

Relevant Associations & Organizations

Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities (APCA)P.O. Box 4340Sevierville TN 37862Phone: 800-681-5031The APCA is a national campus buyers organization that holds showcases and supplies entertainment information to campus talent buyers throughout the United States.Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.http://www.apca.com/

The Bob Hope Hollywood USO at LAXLos Angeles Inter. Airport Center203 World Way West, Suite 200Los Angeles, CA 90045Phone: 310-645-3716/202-610-5700Fax: 310-645-0317The USO (United Service Organizations) is chartered by the Congress as a non-profit charitable corporation, it is not a part of the United States Government. The USO mission is to provide morale, welfare and recreation-type services to uniformed military Personnel.Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.http://www.uso.org

National Association for Campus Activities (NACA)13 Harbison WayColumbia, South Carolina 29212Phone: 803-732-6222Toll Free: 800-845-2338NACA has evolved into the nation’s largest collegiate organization for campus activities with nearly 1,200 member colleges and universities, and more than 600 associate member talent agencies, performers and product specialty firms working in the college market.Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.http://www.naca.org/

For a full listing of helpful associations and organizations click here